Comments Aboard the U.S.S. Tuscaloosa

Comments Aboard the U.S.S. Tuscaloosa

Home Front Workers

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Stirrings of War

"...there was going to be another World War"

"I was getting, as some of you know, radio messages from the State Department and from Europe, that made it pretty clear that there was going to be another World War, in fact I felt so even before I came on board for that cruise... I know all of us agree that we hope, as every other American does, that this war is not going to come to our side of the ocean."

Editor's Notes: World War II began in Europe in September 1939. Even before entering the war in December 1941, the U.S. was helping to aid Great Britain materially, claiming a role as the "Arsenal of Democracy." FDR was constantly in contact with Winston Churchill concerning the global conflict. After the First World War, the US was reluctant to enter into another conflict. Some citizens hoped to remain isolationists while others believed that the country had a moral obligation to become involved with World War II.

In this quote, FDR references a cruise he took aboard the USS Tuscaloosa along the northeastern coast of the United States. This cruise was part of a vacation in northern waters. Footage from the trip was later used in a recruiting video for the United States Navy.

Museum of History and Holocaust Education

1940

Roosevelt, Franklin. “Speech Delivered by the President Aboard United States Ship TUSCALOOSA.” Speech. U.S.S. Tuscaloosa, February 29, 1940. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Master Speech File, 1898-1945. FDR Library. http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/_resources/images/msf/msf01315.

FDR Presidential Library. FDR’s Presidential Cruise on Board the USSS Tuscaloosa, 1939. http://archive.org/details/gov.fdr.105.